Lady Gaga Says That She Wishes She Would Have ‘Spoken Up Sooner’ About Sexual Assault In Hollywood

Like many other women in Hollywood, Lady Gaga has been affected by sexual assault in the workplace.

The 32-year-old recently participated in a roundtable panel with the Hollywood Reporter where she spoke about sexual assault very candidly. When Gaga first got into the industry, she was just 19-years-old and from the very moment that she got her foot in the door, she shares that she was harassed.

“When I started in the music business when I was around 19, it was the rule, not the exception, that you would walk into a recording studio and be harassed.”

“It was just the way that it was. So I do wish that I had spoken up sooner,” she shared. “I did speak up about it. I was assaulted when I was young, and I told people.”

And the Star is Born actress says that even when she did share the details of her rape, the “boys club” culture protected the harassers rather than her, the victim. She said that now, she even suffers from PTSD from the incident that happened.

“Nobody wants to lose their power, so they don’t protect you because if they say something, it takes some of their power away,” she said.

Additionally, Gaga says that she hopes that these conversations for women in Hollywood can come together — not only just about sexual harassment, but she also wants equal pay and other things that she feels women are not being treated fairly on to be discussed.

Other actresses like Glenn Close, Kathryn Hahn, Regina King, Rachel Weisz, and Nicole Kidman also detailed their struggles with harassment in the industry. Close also shared a story about her first encounter with sexual assault, saying that early in her career, there was a very subtle moment in which a “very famous, very big actor” put his hand on her thigh while they were reading a script. She said she basically froze dead in her tracks when that happened.

Nicole Kidman also chimed in when it came to women banding together and helping other younger actresses in the industry, saying that she will offer her advice on anything, including finances. Kidman says that for women just starting out, it is really hard to be good and obedient all the time so it’s nice to have a group of women who already have experience to be able to turn to for advice.

Lady Gaga can currently be seen in the popular film A Star is Born and her performance alongside Bradley Cooper is already earning them both Oscar buzz.